Currently not on view
Sketches of a Child's Head, copy after Agostino Cornacchini's sculpture, Grupo de niños
copy after Agostino Cornacchini, Italian, 1686 - 1754
formerly attributed to Mariano Salvador Maella, Spanish, 1739–1819
Information
formerly attributed to Mariano Salvador Maella, Spanish, 1739–1819
Mariano Salvador Maella (1739-1819) made several sheets similar to this one, which might explain why the drawing was initally attributed to him by the inscription on the verso. Maella was a teacher and court artist which contributes to the confusion between his hand and those of his students. José Manuel de la Mano believes the Princeton sheet to be that of an eighteenth century pupil of Maella. This drawing's heads have a more naturalistic style than that of Maella and the faces with deep-set eyes, blunt noses, and rosebud mouths are closer to that found in a marble sculpture by Agostino Cornacchini (1686-1754). His sculpture was part of the royal collection before it was acquired by the Prado, so it is very likely that a student of Maella could have seen it.
Adapted from: Lisa A. Banner, Spanish Drawings in the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2012).
- Frits Lugt, Les marques de collections de dessins & d'estampes: marques estampillées et écrites de collections particulières et publiques: marques de marchands, de monteurs et d'imprimeurs: cachets de vente d'artistes décédés: marques de graveurs apposées après le tirage des planches : timbres d'édition, etc., (Amsterdam: Vereenigde drukkerijen; La Haye: Nijhoff, 1921)., Lugt no. 3561
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2002," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 62 (2003): p. 107-161., p. 110
- Lisa A. Banner, Spanish Drawings in the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2012)., p. 10, cat. no. 3; p. 11 (illus.)
